


Different Universe, Same Personality

by orphan_account



Series: Different Universe [1]
Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Alternate Universe, Carnival, Italy, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-05-18
Updated: 2012-07-29
Packaged: 2017-11-05 14:10:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/407305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In one universe, Shaun and Desmond work on the same team of assassins, but they can't stand one another.<br/>In a different universe Shaun's a history professor at an university, Desmond's a bartender and his boyfriend.<br/>Shaun gets an offer to go with his class to Italy in order for them to learn about the Renaissance, and Desmond is invited to come along.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

In our universe, the days of Shaun Hastings and Desmond Miles were spent with Desmond in the Animus and Shaun helping him with solving the Truth left by Subject 16, as well as helping Desmond out by providing him with historic facts on his targets, the places he went to and generally anything that would help them recover the Apple of Eden, as well as any other Piece of Eden they could get their hands on.   
Barely what could be described as comrades, for friends they were not, they worked together with Lucy Stillman and Rebecca Crane.

Being cooped up in a small apartment, before having to move to Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni their last safehouse - with no contact with the outside world apart from the occasional grocery-run or maybe an email from another Assassin-team, did not work that well, and it certainly did not make it easy on any of them.  
What made it worse still, was the utter hostility between Shaun and Desmond; mostly by the former, as the latter actually tried to make friends. But Shaun Hastings was a judgmental person, especially when it came to dealing with dim-witted, annoying, carefree American wankers, which is what he thought of Desmond.  
In Shaun's eyes, the best people were his own kind; hard-working, tea-drinking, Queen-loving, polo-playing Brits.  
If the historian hadn't been so stuck up and cut down on his prejudice, he and Desmond might have actually got to know each other; they might even have become friends.

*****

In another universe, one pararell to ours, different in some ways, alike in others, there were no such things as Assassins and Templars.  
In that universe, Shaun was still a historian, and Desmond still a bartender. Perhaps the biggest difference in that universe - apart from the Assassin/Templar-stuff - was the fact that Shaun and Desmond were living together by choice. They were not even just friends, they were lovers; they were boyfriends.  
The Brit had overcome his prejudice for the American, and it did not take long before they were dating. A few months after, Shaun had moved in with him, in the apartment over the bar Desmond owned. 

In the beginning it had been a bit hard for Shaun to concentrate on his wok, as he often sat up late grading papers and generally just working, for he was a professor in history at the local university. And if he did not have to stay up late due to work, he ended up staying up researching after all, because he loved it.  
But he got used to it after a short while, so used to it in fact, that he found it hard to concentrate without the noise. And the best thing was that if he wanted to see his boyfriend, he could just go down the stairs, and there he was.  
They stayed like that for four months, until Shaun got an offer from his work; a two week trip to Italy with his class to look at and learn of the Renaissance there, mainly Roma, Firenze and Venezia. 

When he got home from work that day, he went straight into the bar, where Desmond was preparing to open for the night. Sneaking his arm around his waist, he kissed his neck before murmuring against the skin there.  
"Guess what my job offered me today"  
Desmond just closed his eyes and leaned back into Shaun's embrace, humming.  
"Come on you twat, it's not fun if you don't guess"  
"Hmm Well, seeing as you're so happy about it, it can't be something that will require us to move, seeing as you love it here, so it must be a trip, right?"  
"You're right," Shaun kissed his neck again. "Now, guess where"  
"Shaun, do you honestly expect me to guess where? Knowing you, there are so many places you'd love to go, so how can I guess correct?"  
"Touché love," he chuckled. "I guess I demand too much of you," he continued in a teasing manner.  
"Haha, very funny you."  
"Okay, okay, I'll tell you. It's a fourteen days long trip to Italy to look at the influence of the Renaissance! The best part is that we're going in February, so we get to go to _il Carnivale di Venezia_ , before heading off to Florence and Rome!" The excitement in Shaun's voice was unlike anything Desmond had ever heard; he was almost as exited for this as when he decided that he'd move in with him.  
"Shaun, that's amazing!" Desmond spun around to face his lover, before pulling him into a hug. "So, who's going?"  
"Isn't it? Well, it's me and the class obviously. And... you"  
"Me?" Desmond couldn't believe what he was hearing  
"Yes you idiot. Unless you'd rather have me deal with them all alone... I know I can't make you leave your job, but I thought it would be better if you could join. I asked the school board, and they are okay with it, they'll even cover your expanses too."  
"Shaun, I really.. I don't know what to say..."  
"No need to say anything love. I understand if you'd rather stay here, I won't try to convince you otherwise..."  
"No Shaun, you don't understand. It's actually perfect! I've been thinking about planning a trip for us, to get away for a while, and this couldn't have come at a better moment! Now I don't have to drag you away from work, and we don't even have to pay! Now, go call your job, and tell them I'm tagging along as well. I'll call Lucy and Rebecca and ask if they can take over here while I'm gone."

At that, Shaun threw his arms around Desmond's neck and kissed him, filling the kiss with all the happiness and love he felt at that moment. Desmond lost himself in Shaun in that kiss, and with the promise of an exciting journey in front of them, he felt his love for the other man grow even stronger, and he felt again why it had been love at first sight.  
When they had to pull apart for air, Shaun was red-faced, his lips s bit swollen and his glasses askew; the sight made Desmond want to pick him up and carry him upstairs to have his way with him, never mind the bar.  
Shaun saw the lust and hunger in the bartender's eyes, and pecked at his check before whispering "later" in his ear, before gathering his things and heading upstairs to call his work and start planning for the trip.

And later that night, when Desmond closed his bar, Shaun proved to Desmond that he was a man of his word.


	2. To Venice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Off to Venice!  
> We'll meet Shaun's class, find out a bit about some of them, and learn of Shaun's favourite way to wake up Desmond

Different Universe, Same Personality

\- Chapter 2: To Venice

 

It was the beginning of February, and the last bits of preparations were being made.  
Passports, travel insurance, tickets, information, maps; it was all in a folder in their safe. Cameras were charged and packed, as were their clothes, in fact, everything they needed for their trip apart from some essentials like toiletries and mobile-charges – things they needed until last minute – were the only things missing.

The journey would go as followed: They would start out in Venice for four days, where they would get to participate in _il Carnivale_ the last two days, before traveling down to Florence, where they also would have four days, and then their journey would end in Rome, with four and a half days, which would leave them one and a half day of traveling, leaving enough time to still make it if something went wrong. 

All students who wanted to participate in _il Carnivale_ had been instructed to bring their own costumes, from the Renaissance of course, and they would get to buy masks there if they wanted to.  
Shaun had laid quite a bit of work into it all, and he was to go as Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, Florentine author and politician (amongst other things), whereas Desmond would go as Bartolomeo d’Alviano, a mercenary who lived at the same time as Nicollò and had a statue in one of the cathedrals. 

The historian had taken great care when it came to their costumes, making sure they were appropriate when it came to fabrics and style. Shaun had looked at the webpages of some of the stores that sold masks to find some that would fit their costumes. He’d found a silver _Gladiatore_ mask for Desmond to wear, and he himself would wear found a white, silvery eye mask that would cover his face from the hairline and down to the tip of his nose. Both would be bought at a store in Venice when they got there; he’d even made sure to call to be sure they had both masks in.

They met early at the airport as their plane would leave at eight and it would take them two hours to get there; that way they’d get the most out of their first day there.  
Names were called to make sure everyone was there, and as Shaun said their names, Desmond made sure they had all the papers and documentation they needed before they got in line to check in.  
Once they were through security – without problem for everyone except Alyssa - everyone handed their papers back to Desmond so he could look after it for all of them.  
After information on when they were to meet in front of the gate, the kids headed off to buy food and candy and whatever they needed for the trip. 

The class had not been informed as to where they would be staying; only that they would find out when they arrived. Shaun knew of course and Desmond had tried to find out, but his boyfriend kept it a secret and no matter what Desmond tried to do, he could not get it out of him.  
Shaun had not expected them to be living in such a place and was pleasantly surprised to say the least. And the best part was the location; not far from _San Marco_ _and Basilica di San Marco_. 

Shaun’s class was a weird one, but even though they were so different, they got along really well, which would be hard to guess by looking at them.

Jill and her twin Jack had hazel eyes and read hair, hinting at Irish origin. They dressed similar, both in jeans, Jill with nice sweaters and ballet flats and Jack with t-shirts under sweatshirts and sneakers. So in a way, Jill dressed in the feminine way of her brother. The only big difference apart from that were her braces.  
Carly was grey-eyed, blond and wore glasses, skirts, button-up blouses with sweaters or cardigans and low heels.  
Mike with his black hair and blue eyes dressed in jeans, gamer shirts and Converse.  
Alyssa was in a way “the black sheep”; the oddest one out of the bunch. She dressed in 70’s punk clothes, her black hair with acid green stripes. She had piercings on her bottom lip - right in the middle, a nose stud and three piercings on one ear, two on her other. Her eyes were green, framed by black eyeliner and Union Jack eye shadow.  
Neal’s the blond haired, blue eyed jock of the class.  
Then there’s Molly with her brown hair and eyes, who dressed in t-shirts with funny/weird slogans, baggy jeans and bomber jackets.

Lastly there was the other pair of twins; Fred and George which REALLY took after their “twins” from Harry Potter. Their mother had started reading the first book when she was pregnant with them and named them after the redheads. When they were born, it was visible from the start that they bore an uncanny likeness to the characters, only difference being that their hair was more brown than red. Fred and George pranked all their teachers except Shaun, which bore evidence to just how much they liked their history teacher. They dressed in the same clothes but different colours; George would dress in lighter and often brighter colours while Fred dressed in the darker scale. They would end up switching clothes to confuse others and no one apart Shaun was able to see the difference.

So yes, they were indeed an odd class. And even though none of them actually looked like history geeks, they all loved it. Desmond guessed that was because of Shaun. Not that he knew any of the kids, but seeing as he knew the teacher, he was pretty sure that was the reason.

Desmond yawned and shook his head, making Shaun elbow him.  
“Well you seem energetic,” he said in a teasing tone.  
“Sorry,” Desmond replied, stifling another yawn. “Not used to being up at this time of the day, ya know? Your class however…” Desmond couldn’t understand how they could be so awake. “Are they always like this?”  
“Nope, they’re usually more like you, sometimes ever worse.” Shaun chuckled. “But I guess they’ll stay this way for most of the trip.”  
“Well, seems I’m in for a treat then, huh?” 

Taking Shaun’s hand, Desmond steered them towards the nearest coffee shop, needing the black beverage to stay awake and alert for the plane ride. He guessed he would need another cup on the plane and possibly another when they arrived at the airport in Italy.  
Shaun however made do with a cup of tea with milk as usual. Since he’d eaten before he left, he didn’t need anything to eat, but for Desmond it was too early to get hungry, so he had a sandwich as well. Knowing Desmond, Shaun guessed he’d have another as soon as he could buy one on the plane.

Making sure Desmond didn’t fall asleep while they waited for the plane to depart, Shaun moved to sit beside him on the bench and took out a travel guide in order to show Desmond the sites they were going to see, and asking if he knew of any places not on the list they could go to; either the whole class or just the two of them.  
Desmond had of course – as a surprise for Shaun – found a couple of places in each town he’d take Shaun to, but he wouldn’t admit to it. Instead he just shrugged and said he’d think it over, and tried to coax Shaun into letting him know of the places they’d stay at. Shaun - of course – refused, pecked Desmond on the lips and proceeded to drag him out of the coffee shop to see if there was anything they needed or wanted to buy for the plane trip. 

***

Half an hour before the plane would depart, they were all gathered at the gate. Names were called to ensure they were all there – Fred and George switched names again of course; they always did.

Once they were up in the air, Desmond unbuckled his seatbelt, put up the armrest and snuggled up against Shaun.  
The historian wound his arm around him and kissed his hair before straightening his glasses and continued reading the book he’d brought along for the trip.  
 _I hope they’ll serve the coffee soon_ , he thought to himself, knowing that no matter how hungry Desmond would get, Shaun would be unable to rouse him until they landed if he fell asleep now. 

Five minutes passed with no sign of any coffee, and Shaun could feel Desmond’s breathing pattern change, now almost at the point where he knew Desmond’s pulse would be when he fell asleep.  
After all, they’d fallen asleep together enough times for both males to recognise the other’s pattern.  
“Hey, Des,” Shaun said in a low voice as he removed his arm from around Desmond in order for the other man to straighten up.  
“Wasit?” came the mumbled reply from the American’s mouth, barely audible as the sound was muffled by Shaun’s shoulder.  
“As much as I know you’d love to sleep,” Shaun replied with a hint of laughter in his voice, “I actually need you to stay awake for this trip. Coffee’s coming soon, as well as food and if you fall asleep now, you’ll sleep through it all. You know how hard it is to wake you up once you fall asleep.”

What Shaun didn’t say however, was that he knew of ways to wake Desmond. Sadly though, common decency wouldn’t let him give Desmond a blow-job in order to wake him up. So he was stuck with keeping him awake by bribing him with coffee and food instead. 

Desmond yawned and stretched, and tried to rub the sleepiness out of his eyes to no avail.  
Just as Shaun had predicted, coffee and food soon arrived, saving him from the troubles of waking up Desmond at a later point. 

Once they landed, Shaun and Desmond waited for the students, before they all went to gather the luggage.  
As soon as everyone got theirs, they headed off to find a couple taxis to take them to the hotel. 

On the outside, the hotel didn’t look like much. But Desmond and the students soon figured out it was a four star hotel, and were as surprised as Shaun had been when he’d figured it out.  
The students were assigned to their rooms, before they were handed the keys-cards.  
Jill and Carly would share one of the rooms, Alyssa and Molly another. Fred and George would of course share, and Jack, Mike and Neal would have the last room.  
Shan had been in charge of deciding who would room with whom, and chose based on how well the students got along with each other. 

Not that there had been much of a choice really. Fred and George are even more inseparable than Siamese twins, which left the other room to Jack, Neal and Mike.  
Alyssa and Molly, though they might not look the part, are the class photographers. Both took great pleasure in developing photographs in the old-school way, and used both modern and old-fashioned cameras.  
Jill and Carly are the book-geeks of the class, reading everything from Edgar Allan Poe to Jane Austen, to Harry Potter and H.P. Lovecraft.

Fred and George’s room had a double-bed, and Jack, Neal and Mike’s room had twin beds plus one extra bed. Both girls’ rooms had twin-beds as well. Shaun and Desmond shared a double-bed of course. 

Before everyone headed to their rooms to unpack and relax for a bit, they decided that they would meet in the lobby an hour later, before they would go sightseeing and then find somewhere to eat lunch. 

Once Shaun and Desmond reached their room, Desmond flopped down on the bed, leaving Shaun standing by the luggage looking at him.  
Shaun chuckled and began unpacking his own things, because Desmond was bloody well able to unpack his own.  
Well, after Shaun was done with him that was.  
Knowing they wouldn’t get to be alone much of the trip, Shaun knew they would have to take advantage of every single moment they could.  
Besides, knowing Desmond, he knew he would have to hurry unpacking if they were going to meet the students in time.  
Desmond just tasted too good, and Shaun was about to enjoy that to the fullest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SORRY it's been taking me so incredibly many months to update this!  
> It's hard to find inspiration sometimes, but now, at last, I bring you chapter two.  
> It seems this fic might evolve and become quite much longer than I expected it to be^^"


	3. Of Nightmares and Carnivals

Different Universe, Same Personality – Of Nightmares and Carnivals.

 

They met up with Shaun’s class at the appointed time and sat down around a table to discuss where they wanted to start out.   
After a bit of talking, it was decided that they would start out at _Chiesa di Santo Stefano_ , move on to _Campa del Ghetto Nuovo_ and from there find a place to buy something to eat and drink before sitting down to eat in _Giardino Papadopoli._

Once they had eaten, they would move on to the San Polo district, where they would start out with the churches, then go to the _Ponte di Rialto_. Once done, they would head back to the hotel to have supper and relax for a bit before heading out to join the Carnival. 

Before they headed out, Shaun had Desmond hand out sheets with question on, which they would fill out through their visit in Venice. Each question was about the landmarks and places they would visit, containing facts they had learned at school, from the guidebook they had brought along and what they would learn as they listened to Shaun. 

When they arrived at _Santo Stefano_ , Shaun explained to the class and Desmond that Bartolomeo d’Alviano - the man Desmond would go as that night - was buried within the church.

To Shaun’s surprise, Desmond was more awake than he’d dared to hope, and he actually paid attention to what Shaun told them.   
The historian wondered if maybe he should have made a sheet for Desmond as well.

When they were done at _Ghetto Nuovo_ , they got directions to a café where they bought sandwiches and something to drink, before they headed off to Giardino Papadopoli where they found some benches to sit on while eating. 

The students discussed the places they had seen so far and went over the sheets together.   
Shaun and Desmond sat together on a bench out of view of the students and cuddled up together.  
“So, what do you think so far?” the historian asked his lover. “You think you can keep up for the rest of the trip?”  
“Very funny,” the bartender replied, pecking Shaun on the lips.   
They continued eating in silence, just listening to the exited chatter of the students.

As they got up to throw away their trash and join the class, Desmond leaned towards Shaun and said “You know, I’m more than capable of keeping up if you reward me like you did earlier today.”  
As he kissed his lover, they heard the hoots and catcalls from the class, followed by laughter. 

Shaun ended the kiss, straightened his glasses and looked at his class.   
“Shouldn’t we get going so we can actually get back to the hotel before the carnival starts?” he asked them. Before anyone got the chance to reply, he added “Any student who comes with a smart remark will be given extra homework that must be done by the time we arrive in Firenze.”  
That shut the students up, and so they started walking in the direction of the San Polo district. 

As they left the park, Shaun kissed Desmond again, not ready to stop kissing him quite yet.  
“You’ll get your award later tonight,” he whispered, before taking his hand and started dragging Desmond behind in order to catch up with the students.

***

Desmond’s nightmares started on the first night of _il Carnivale._  
When they had been outside, under the stars, the sounds of the fireworks had resonated with him, and he felt a strange connection to them, as if he had heard it before.   
They had been in a walled-in garden; down by a place where the canals ran into the ocean, not far from _Palazzo Ducale_. It was just him and Shaun, the class was just outside, dancing with each other to the music from the orchestras. 

Tired of dancing themselves, they were sitting on a bench; enjoying each other’s company whilst watching the firework and listening to the music.   
Desmond was used to fireworks, and at first nothing was different about this one. But then, he was certain he heard a gunshot.   
When he asked Shaun, he answered that he hadn’t heard any himself, and tried to assure Desmond it was just a trick of his mind. 

Desmond pretended to believe him, and did not mention it again.  
Instead, he kissed Shaun, before getting up and dragging Shaun after him, into his arms and began swaying to the music.

But that night, the dreams began.   
In the dream, he was in the workshop of Leonardo da Vinci, talking with the man himself - asking him for a mask to wear and handing over some ancient-looking sheets of paper.  
After a while, he returned, and was given a small pistol, as small as a hummingbird.

When he tested it, it sounded just like the one he’d heard during the fireworks.   
The sound shook him from his dream, and he bolted upright in bed, panting.   
Luckily, Shaun was still asleep, and comforted by the knowledge that it was just a dream, Desmond went back to sleep.   
The rest of the night was peaceful, and when he woke in the morning, he barely remembered it.

The next night, he entered the dreamscape again. This time, he was at the same place he had been the day before; in the garden in which he had been with Shaun.   
Sneaking through the crowd and avoiding the guards, he neared the ship that was anchored there and waited for the fireworks to start.  
As soon as the man on the ship was done with his speech, it started.  
That was when he saw his chance, and shot the man using the small pistol he had acquired the day before. 

Chaos erupted, and he sprang aboard the boat before jumping into the water on the other side and disappeared in the chaos and confusion. 

When he woke this time, Shaun woke with him.  
The historian asked what was wrong, but Desmond only shook his head, not knowing how to describe what he felt and what he’d dreamed.  
So instead, they curled up together and just lay there, not saying a word. 

The other dreams weren’t bad; just… strange. Desmond would dream of running around in Venice in a time period unknown, though he suspected it was sometime during the Renaissance.   
Sometimes he would recognize the places in his dreams because they had visited them during the day. Other times he would recognize them when awake, because he’d dreamt of them.  
It was confusing for him, as the places were very different from his dreams, with houses and building and pathways added, removed or altered.

However, Desmond did not dread his dreams, for nothing bad happened.  
He did not dread sleeping, for he felt he learned something from his dreams, almost as if he was given a virtual tour of an age gone by.

And because of that, he slept peacefully the other nights.  
Desmond didn’t tell Shaun, but Shaun knew something wasn’t entirely right when it came to Desmond, something had changed, altered the way the other man saw things.  
Shaun often caught Desmond looking at the places they visited with a confused look on his face, as if what he saw wasn’t what he’d expected to see. 

But the historian didn’t ask the bartender what was wrong, for Desmond was otherwise happy and carefree, and he, like the students, absorbed every word Shaun said about the places they visited. Although, sometimes his lover would get a distant look in his eyes, like he wasn’t truly with them.

Shaun was worried, but held onto the hope that Desmond would return to normal once they left Venice.  
So for now, Shaun will hold his tongue and pretend he doesn’t notice something is off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS WAS A REALLY TROUBLESOME CHAPTER, even though it didn't take nearly as much time to write as the last one..^^  
> I knew what I basically wanted to write, but deciding how much to include and how much description I would use was rather difficult...  
> I'm not sure if I'll skip ahead to Monteriggioni and Florence, or if there'll be more mentions of Venice first, I need to think about it first


End file.
